


The Bodyguards

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Canon-Typical Violence, Getting Together, Injury, Kidnapping, Multi, Past Tony Stark/Bethany Cabe, Polyamory, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:40:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: It was such a cliche for Tony to fall in love with his bodyguard. When he gained more bodyguards, he fell in love with them too, and that wasn't really better.
Relationships: Bethany Cabe/Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Bethany Cabe/Tony Stark
Kudos: 12
Collections: Marvel Polyship Bingo 2020





	The Bodyguards

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for Marvel Polyship Bingo Square: I1-Utopian Society. The utopian part is that it's comic based but Osborn isn't in power lmao

Tony Stark was one of the biggest celebrities in the world. With the changes in Stark Industries, he'd doubled his enemies overnight. The whole thing with Ten Rings got him Iron Man, and unsurprisingly, Iron Man's enemies were his too. Having a superhero as a bodyguard was all well and good until they joined a team and Tony was left basically unprotected. So he expanded, and now there was Iron Man, Rescue, and War Machine, rotating protecting him and helping the Avengers. The distinction only really mattered between the four of them as they generally tried to pretend that there was only a single Iron Man. 

It was exhausting. Yeah Tony had been the original Iron Man, but it made sense to give the suit to Bethany since she was his bodyguard anyways; it was the same job but with a better outfit-- not that Bethany didn't look killer in a suit. Then with her busy being Iron Man, Tony had Pepper and Rhodey, and again, it made sense to give them suits when the extra protection was needed, instead of trying to find new people he could trust. 

Tony fell asleep at the kitchen table. He hadn't meant to, he had even started a pot of coffee to prevent this, but he fell asleep sprawled across the surface with his face sticking to a few papers. Someone shook him awake, and instead of the faceplate for one of the armors, Bethany was smiling down at him. "Hey Tony. Working too hard again?" 

Tony yawned, rubbing at his face. "You're one to talk," he muttered. 

"Hey now. I got a promotion because I worked too much." 

"I never said I minded, it's just so much the pot calling the kettle black. What time issit?" 

"Seven." 

Tony groaned and let his head fall back on the table. He'd sat down here at four, and three hours wasn't really enough for him to live on these days, not if he wanted to be at his best. And less than his best wasn't cutting it anymore, the negotiations with InGen had proved that much. 

Bethany carded her fingers through his hair, and he felt himself go boneless. He should stay awake, but he wouldn't be able to if she kept doing this. "I'm worried about you Tony. You're not twenty-five anymore, you can't keep doing this. With the arc reactor doing-" 

"I know," Tony snapped. "You're not my nanny, so stop acting like it." 

Her hand froze, then slowly retracted. 

He felt guilty immediately. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I don't know what's wrong with me." 

"You're tired and you're not eating. It's enough to make anyone short tempered." Tentatively, she put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's get some breakfast then come back and catch a nap, huh? It'll be just like the old days." 

Tony chuckled, leaning into the touch. "Yeah, that sounds good." 

Because villains had no respect, they got attacked before they could leave the restaurant on their own. Thankfully, people had a habit of underestimating Bethany, though god only knows why. She'd been a badass long before she was Iron Man, so the kidnapping didn't even really get completed before they were escaping. 

"Remind me to give you a raise," Tony said, arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist as they walked back to the Tower. 

"Do you even know how much you pay me right now?" 

"I'm sure you deserve more." And wasn't that the goddamn truth. If she was getting paid any less than him, she wasn't getting paid enough. 

Beth chuckled, taking the hand that wasn't already on him and patting him on the chest. "Hazard pay's a nice boost, and you comp my rent and food, so there's not much left." 

"What about savings? You need to prepare for when I die." 

Bethany rolled her eyes. "You're not dying anytime soon, it's literally why I'm around, so shut it." 

She was quiet for a block. 

"I wish you'd take better care of yourself." 

"I don't think I can control who attacks me," Tony frowned. 

"Not that. When was the last time you went on a date? A _real_ date." 

"Is that what we're doing now?" Tony asked, dropping his arm from her with a sigh. "I don't need to be dating anyone, I'm too busy." 

"You weren't too busy to date me," she pointed out. They were still friends, but it felt like she was prodding at a bruise. They'd broken up because she said she couldn't do her job and date him, and it was pretty damn clear that she wasn't about to quit. Quit so she could date some guy? The very idea was laughable for her. Tony would've advised against it, it didn't matter that _he_ was the one getting broken up with. 

"Fine, which superhero is it that you're planning to set me up with? This should be good." 

"Why is it that we either get along like nothing's changed, or we're fighting?" 

"My dating life isn't your concern, and it hasn't been for years. Just..." he sighed again. "Just let it go, Beth. I'm not interested in anyone I could possibly date." The Tower was only a few buildings away, but that didn't mean it would be the end of this conversation, unfortunately. Tony had the sad habit of giving her too much information. If they continued to talk, he would let something slip, and he'd rather her not find out that he was half in love with not just one, but all three of his bodyguards. All three of whom were most certainly not in his dating pool, and certainly not at the same time, no matter how much he might want it. If the end of his relationship with Bethany had taught him anything, it was that no one could guard him and date him at the same time. 

"Anyone you could possibly date?" Beth repeated, and Tony wanted to curse. "So there is someone." 

"Beth," he said through gritted teeth, "let it go." 

She continued to look at him for a long moment before dropping it. He didn't fool himself into thinking that that would last. Sure enough, by the time they arrived at the Tower, she had brought it up again. "Is it Pepper?" 

Tony groaned. 

"Or is it Jim? I suppose it could be both, but you've never been that sort of man and since they are nearly together, it would make sense. Is it one of them?" 

He didn't say anything; the less he said, the greater his chances of making it out of this conversation with something resembling dignity intact. 

"Oh Tony," she said sympathetically, clearly taking his silence for affirmation. "Which one?" 

"Will you please just drop it? Like you said, it doesn't matter since they're practically together." They might already be together and keeping it to themselves, but Tony held onto the hope that they'd do him the courtesy of disclosing that information. "Let's talk about something else. Anything," he said, glancing at her with a pointed look. This was her chance to make him talk about a different topic he was desperate to avoid, and she took advantage, knowing that she could bother him about this at a later time. 

"Well in that case," she said with a wicked grin. 

* * *

Beth walked into the room and waited long enough to make sure the only people there were her, Pepper, and Jim. She locked the door, then leaned against it with her arms folded. "We've got a problem." 

"Way to be cryptic," Jim said, but he was paying attention. 

"Tony's about to self destruct. I don't know how, and I could use some advice in how we stop that." 

"Is something setting him off or is he just having... a bad time?" Pepper never could figure out how to distinguish it, because sometimes things did happen, and other times he spiraled and there was nothing they could do but try and remind him that he wasn't alone. 

Beth cleared her throat and shifted. 

Jim gave her a flat look. "Bethany." 

"Well," she said, pushing off from the wall and joining them around the table, "he's in love with someone. Won't say who, but I think it's one of you." 

A pause. 

"How sure are you about that?" Pepper asked. 

"He's definitely in love with someone he thinks it would be hopeless to approach, and it was heavily implied to be one of you. Don't know which one, but it's messing him up pretty bad." 

"Well how are we supposed to help with that?" Jim asked. "Feels like we might make it worse if we intervene." 

"Worse how?" Beth said. "He's already freaking out about it." 

"Trust Tony to not pine quietly," Pepper said, rubbing at her forehead. "Why can't he be like the rest of us and keep it to himself?" 

"He _is_ keeping it to himself, that's the problem. If he were talking about it with someone, he might not internalize it to mean that he's a horrible person or whatever he's thinking." 

"Couldn't you have told him that when you were talking about it?" Jim asked. "And if he was talking to you, doesn't that already solve this?" 

"Me tricking him into talking about his feelings doesn't count, and he won't believe anything about his relationships coming from me since he thinks he's failed with me or something." 

Pepper frowned. "Don't you still love him? I thought he knew that." Then she paused. "Not that you have to share, of course. That's rather personal, I didn't mean to pry." 

Bethany rolled her eyes, because honestly? That in particular was hardly a secret, and even if it was, there wasn't really anything constituting secrets between the three of them. There just wasn't space when they were doing their job properly. "Of course I do, but when we're not actually together, he forgets that." She rubbed at her neck, wishing there was something they could do to make Tony feel better. She knew what she wanted-- to get back together with him and ask if Jim and Pepper wanted to do the same-- but the chances of that working were slim. Besides, she wasn't sure if either of them weren't interested in Tony _or_ polyamory. Now was a good time to ask though, because she was terrified of Tony spiraling when she noticed but couldn't do anything about it. "It may not be my business, but are you in love with Tony?" she asked, looking between the two of them. "At all?" 

"Yes," Jim said at the same time Pepper said, "Of course." 

Beth straightened. "Holy shit, problem solved." 

"How does this solve the problem?" Pepper asked. "We don't know which of us it is, and if we get it wrong the first time, he'll think we're lying." 

"Feel free to shut me up if I'm wrong, but couldn't we all date him? That's a thing, right?" Jim said, a touch nervously. 

"I'm all for it," Bethany admitted easily. 

"The question is if Tony would go for it," Pepper added. "Otherwise it doesn't matter what we want." 

"You're guarding him at the gala tomorrow, right?" 

Pepper nodded. 

"Feel him out. Flirt a little." 

"I guess," she said, shifting in her seat. 

"You don't have to, Pep," Jim reminded her. "It can wait a couple days for me to talk to him." 

"It's not that. It's just- what if we're wrong? I don't want to corner him." 

"Cornering Tony is harder than you'd think," Beth said. 

"You do it all the time." 

"We've known each other for years, and he lets it happen more than I manage to _do_ anything. If he doesn't want to talk about it, he won't, it's as simple as that. Try to hint around rather than asking him flat out, that'll probably just make him run." 

Pepper nodded, determination growing in her. "I'll take care of it." 

"Don't push yourself though," Jim said. "We don't have to get this sorted in twenty four hours or something." 

* * *

When Pepper came to, head throbbing and tied to a chair, her first thought was, _Shit where's Tony?_ Her second was, _This wouldn't have happened to Bethany_. Beth had been doing this a lot longer than her, and she'd actually trained to be a bodyguard, as opposed to Pepper who'd basically had a crash course followed by extensive practice in the Iron Man armor. Aside from the pain in her head, she was uninjured, and even that wasn't too bad since it wasn't a concussion. Her shoes had been taken off along with the small pistol she kept strapped to her ankle. Likewise, she'd been divested of her shirt and the shoulder holster she usually wore. The gun in the small of her back was gone, as were the pair of knives she kept at her waist. She still had her tank top and dress pants on, but the fabric was definitely ruined. Not that she cared, but Tony always looked a little sad when something got ruined. 

She looked around the room and saw Tony passed out on a nearby couch. His hands were tied together then roped to an exposed pipe in the wall. Still restrained, but much less than she was, which meant whoever did this wanted something specific from Tony. 

And then who should walk in but Whitney _fucking_ Frost. "Pepper Potts," she said, voice steady but with a detached sort of rage. 

Scratch her earlier thoughts, it was a damn good thing Bethany wasn't here. Every time Madame Masque saw her, she lost it and tried to kill her. Pepper, as someone who hadn't dated Tony, was on somewhat better footing with her, but it still wasn't good. "Masque," Pepper returned evenly. "Still working for Osborn?" 

Frost scoffed. "Osborn is a fool with delusions of grandeur." 

"No objections here. It doesn't really explain what you're doing right now though." 

Frost didn't say anything for a minute. With the mask, it was hard to tell if she was even looking at Pepper. After a long pause, where Pepper got more worried that Frost was simply going to pull out a gun and shoot her, she walked forward. She fisted a hand in Pepper's ponytail and jerked her head back. "Who's in the Iron Man suit?" 

"Go to hell," Pepper spit. 

Frost's grip tightened, and Pepper couldn't completely quiet the yelp of pain. It felt like if Frost pulled, she'd come away with a clump of bloody hair. "Tony used to be the pilot, and I don't know why, but he's stopped. To keep him safe, I need to get rid of them. Who is it?" 

"Iron Man is Tony's bodyguard, _they_ are there to keep him safe, not someone who thinks kidnapping and hurting him means safety." 

Frost let go of her hair and punched her straight on. The force made the chair tip over, and Pepper landed with a harsh clatter on her back. There was an unsettling crunch as her weight landed awkwardly on her hand, breaking some of the bones. Hurt like hell, but this was always Masque's problem. She got too angry too quickly, and she lost focus; it provided Pepper with a way out, and that's all she cared about right now. 

Masque yanked the chair back up into a proper position and leaned in, her golden mask bare inches from Pepper's face. "Who's Iron Man? Is it Cabe?" 

"Go fuck yourself." 

Several more, painful bruises later, and the opportunity presented itself. Pepper managed to get one of her hands free, and from there it was easy to punch Masque in the stomach and grab her knife, cutting the rest of the rope so she could stumble to her feet. 

They exchanged a few blows, but that's as far as they got because then the door blasted open, Iron Man silhouetted by the brighter light in the other room. Masque had the option to surrender or keep fighting and risk getting killed. With her clones and whatever magic she was mixed up in, sometimes she chose the second one. Today though, she picked the first, glancing towards Tony as she was led from the room in thick handcuffs. 

"Help's on the way," Iron Man said, another reminder that Pepper wouldn't have to wait long for medical treatment. Not that she minded, since Iron Man had offered to bring them there faster, but she preferred to have Masque securely jailed-- or as secure as any of the villain facilities ever were. She nodded, and Iron Man finished leaving. 

Pepper gingerly walked over to Tony, her injured hand cradled close to her chest in an unconscious bid to keep it safe. It was Bethany in the armor right now, and after getting Masque in the cuffs she'd checked to make sure Tony was A. still alive and B. he wasn't in any immediate danger. That didn't mean they knew what was wrong with him though, because the sounds from their fighting should have woken him up. She sat on the couch and checked his pulse-- steady if a little slow. Frowning, she felt his face with the back of her hand. He was a little cold, but again, it wasn't anything that raised a red flag. What _did_ concern her was the fact that one of his sleeves had been unbuttoned and was wrinkled like it had been rolled up. 

With a slightly uncoordinated hand, she pushed the material up. A small little pinprick in his skin was the only evidence that something had happened, and it fit Madame Masque's MO. She'd drugged him with something, probably just enough to keep him out while she tried to get the information she wanted from Pepper without him interrupting. He'd probably been knocked over the head too, so she hoped he didn't have a concussion. 

* * *

Tony woke up in a hospital, all three of his bodyguards in the room. Pepper was sleeping on a chair, her face bruised and one of her hands was wrapped. Bethany was pacing the room as she spoke lowly on the phone, probably the PR team or the Avengers. Jim was on the chair closest to him, and he noticed immediately when Tony stirred. "Hey," he said, getting to his feet. "How you feeling?" 

When Beth heard him talking, she glanced over, giving Tony a small smile. 

Tony swallowed, his throat feeling a little dry but not overly so-- not more than a day that he'd been out, then. "Little tired." He pushed himself up, not even needing help. Out of all the times he'd been in the hospital, this had to be one of the most mild. 

"No pain?" 

"No." 

"That's good, no brain damage." 

And didn't it suck that that was a perfectly normal sentence to hear? Tony nodded, leaning back into the pillow. "What happened?" he asked, looking at Pepper's sleeping figure. 

"Madame Masque. Even if Beth hadn't showed up, she would've been fine." 

"Her hand?" 

"Couple broken fingers, might take a while to heal properly. No concussion though, so she won't be off duty for too long." 

"She has some vacation time she could use. You all do," Tony reminded him. 

Bethany ended her phone conversation and flipped it closed. "Yeah, but is it really a vacation without you there? The three person rotation works, I'm afraid that if any of us took a week off it might spread the other two too thin." 

"We'd survive," Tony argued, but Beth knew it was Tony-speak for 'I am going to put myself in danger by giving them time off from following me all day'. Whether he was in the office or not, he needed the protection. 

"Not with one Iron Man suit in play." 

Tony gave a cough, meaning for it to be a little accent before he shared the news, but it turned into a coughing fit since he hadn't had any water since waking. A minute and several sips of water later, Tony said, "I have a suit for each of you." 

"Yeah Tones, we know. It's kinda how we all fit even though we're different sizes." 

"No," Tony said, rolling his eyes, " _completely_ different suits. Different paint jobs to suit you and everything. Except you Beth, you've still got red and gold." 

"It's classic." 

"Damn right." 

"My own suit?" Jim said, looking like a puppy with its ears perked up. 

Tony nodded. "Grey and black." 

"Well that's not flashy." 

"You've got a shoulder cannon?" 

Jim paused, considering this. "Once I take it out for a spin, I'll think about forgiving you for the color scheme." 

"You look great in black," Beth said. "And grey." 

"That's easy for you to say, you still get red and gold." 

"That's cause I was here first," Beth grinned. 

"What colors are Rescue's armor?" 

"Red and grey." 

"See?" Bethany said. "Even she doesn't get gold." 

"She still has red," Jim grumbled. 

"If it means that much to you, I can paint it a different color," Tony offered. 

"Absolutely not. War Machine is mine and I love him, and you don't get to change him," Jim said, shooting Tony a warning look. 

Tony snickered, holding up his hands in surrender. "As the boss commands." 

"You're the boss," they both said. 

"And yet I'm rarely in charge." 

Beth snorted. "You'd give away your company if there was someone you trusted with it." 

"Who needs to run a company when I could be head of R&D and just have fun?" 

"Right, cause that's what you'd do as head of R&D," Jim said drily. "Relax." 

"I might," he said defensively. No he wouldn't. He sighed, throwing the blanket off. "We good to go?" 

"Yep," Beth said, moving over to Pepper's chair to shake her awake. Jim helped Tony off the bed even though he didn't really need it; it was nice to hold his hand and lean into him. 

"Mmf," Pepper mumbled, raising a hand to rub at her eyes. At first she chose the injured hand and had to switch, but after that she stumbled to her feet, yawning widely. Being knocked out wasn't the most restful way to be unconscious, and getting hit afterwards sure as hell didn't help. Bethany looped an arm around her waist and supported her weight so they could get moving. 

"Guess what?" she whispered in Pepper's ear. 

"Hm?" 

"Tony made us our separate suits so we're not all Iron Man now." 

That perked Pepper up faster than anything else could have. "Really?" 

"Mhmm," Beth said, smiling widely. "I bet he'll let you take it out as soon as you can unwrap your fingers." 

"I could unwrap them now?" she suggested hopefully, but that hope was dashed when Beth snorted. 

"If you fuck up your healing, I'm going to put you on mandatory leave." 

Pepper pouted, then winced as the expression pulled on a cut on her lip. "Fine, I'll wait. But I'm not happy about it, and I will file a formal complaint about it." 

"Yeah I'm sure Tony will take your request very seriously." 

On the drive home-- Bethany driving, Jim beside her, and Pepper and Tony in the backseat with him fussing over her injuries-- Beth asked in low tone, "Do you think we could talk to him about it now?" 

"I thought we were waiting?" Jim responded, just as quietly. 

"I think if we start waiting we're never going to stop. We mention it casually, and it's no big deal if he turns us down." 

Jim made a face, but not like he disagreed. They all knew that it would be a bit of a big deal if he rejected the idea, but doing it casually was better than making a production of it and getting him nervous. 

A kidnapping attempt that ended mostly well for them meant they celebrated with pizza. Tony got an alfredo sauce for himself, a meatlovers for Beth, and a pineapple and ham for Pepper and Jim. It was a common practice for them, with Pepper using a fork and knife to eat hers, Beth stacked one slice on top of another, Jim folded his in half, and Tony ate his 'like a normal person, seriously guys what the _fuck_ '. 

In between finish off her first pair and getting her seconds together, Bethany decided to bring it up. "Hey, Tony?" 

"Hm?" 

"What do you think about polyamory?" 

Jim knew that she was going to ask, so he didn't really react, but Pepper froze, and Tony gave an involuntary cough in surprise. He finished chewing quickly and swallowed it down. "Is this a joke?" 

"If it was, it wouldn't be a very funny one. No, I'm being serious." 

"Uh." Tony's eyes flickered between all three of his bodyguards, like maybe he was expecting for one of them to break. "I mean. Polyamory's. Cool. If you're into that sort of thing." 

"Well," Beth said, taking a small bite, "it's something all three of us are into. The only question left is if it's something _you're_ into." She paused. "We all want it. With you, Tony." 

Tony swallowed, looking down at his plate. "What happened to you can't protect me and date me at the same time?" 

"I was your only bodyguard back then. If I got in too deep, you were compromised and I couldn't let that happen. This is completely different, sweetheart. You gave us the suits, there's three of us, I think we run a real shot of this working without it interfering with our job. If- um- you're interested, that is." 

"What happened to talking about this later?" Pepper asked, sounding pained. Beth glanced at her, and it looked like maybe she'd had a bit of trouble with the pizza that had been in her mouth when Beth started all of this. 

"We figured it was now or never," Jim told her. 

"Oh my god you're being serious," Tony breathed. "This can't be happening." 

That didn't bode well. "You can say no. It doesn't have to change anything, we can just keep having dinner and forget all about it." 

"Give me a second- just, hold up." Tony leaned back in his chair, mind going a mile a minute. He grabbed his water from the table and shot some back, then put it back on the table with a too loud clunk. "You'd better not be joking," he said quietly, vulnerability all too clear in his tone, on his face, in his body language. 

"Never," Jim said, and it probably meant the most that it was coming from him since he was the one most likely to play a prank or joke around. 

"Oh my god," Tony said again. 

* * *

Bethany woke up right where she wanted to be: in Tony's arms. She'd been there before and it had killed her to leave, but at the time it had been the right thing to do. She snuggled closer, still mostly asleep. Jim and Pepper were on the other side of the bed, each able to have their own space on the massive bed while Beth and Tony were on top of each other. 

She yawned, fingers stretching out then relaxing on Tony's arm, and she hummed nonsensically to herself as she settled back into place, surrounded by warmth and just the right amount of sleepiness. 


End file.
